VTAndrea

Wow, that first one reminds me of a Master Tiger Eye. Sort of....

Oh dear. Yes, someone paid $72 for this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/STRIKING-Christensen-A...%3A1|240%3A1318

Sorry, I wanted to TINY URL-it, but my browser says the site can harm my computer. What's up with that?

Oh, I looked it up. The 2 guineas I saw offered in 15/16" size were listed by "dvldog2323". Now I've gotta go see if anyone bit for them.

15/16????? I've never heard of a CAC guinea in that size. I do remember seeing a couple that size offered on ebay recently and thought "no way".

Griff, can someone see the grinding marks under magnification? Wow, yet another thing to watch out for.

What fabulous advice. Thanks for sharing your time and experience.

I used one of those "Tek Torches" they sell at marble shows. Very bright, concentrated light. My clown is opaque, no doubt about it.

Semdot, I can't shine a light through the opaque black on mine so I'm pretty sure it's not transparent green. Maybe there are variations on the base color of a classic "clown".

I was under the impression the Pelt "clowns" were similar in coloration to Golden Rebels but on an opaque black base. Here's an example that's 29/32":

Does anyone have a lightning strike I could buy? Seriously....

OK, here's a cloud in blue glass. Wow, I need to resize that one!!

And a cloud/Indian in green glass.

A paperweight marble:

A neat shrunken onion with aventurine:

A couple of over 2" onions. The bottom one has 18 lobes and mica, although it's hard to see in the pic.

Yours are most excellent also, Sue!

I was hoping Joeren would post his handmades. They always make me hyperventilate.

Black & yellow with a line of oxblood. One which some people didn't think is a "real" popeye, but Alan B. said looks like one to him:

Oops, one more.

Mine is black, truly. Probably some transitional type, but I'm not sure where made. Dan or Reddog, do you have a theory?

Hey, Dan--I was trying to remember who else had one similar to mine.

Here's a very old opaque swirl in just black and white.

I've sent one or two marbles to Robertson to be "cooked". As mentioned, it isn't cheap but sometimes the only solution for restoration without losing a lot of glass. It also took quite a lot more time to get it shipped back than a polishing job. I was pleased with their work though.

I picked up this big (almost 2") onion at one of the rare local auctions offering marbles. It was so beat up I couldn't even tell it was an onion. Sent it off to Leroy who did his usual magic. Yes, it's lost the pontils, but now I can see the deep lobes filled with mica. Worth it? Absolutely.

On the other hand, if I were to have this 1" Leighton-type polished, I'd lose the incredible colors and oxblood on the surface, so it remains battered and still appreciated.

Are the real scenic chinas generally glazed?

Well, some blue in this one but it has lots of mica in the valleys between the deep lobes. This was a basket case onion rescued by Leroy.

I studied Rick's dug ones and didn't see the same characteristics that make me think Vitro. Many Pelts and Vitros can look enough alike to fool people who specialize in those types though. How's that for refusing to take a stand?